Limited snow, good ice, and single digits on thermometer are annoying to anglers, trackers, snowshoeing exercisers, deer study and trapping crews.
What about those who plow snow and worry about insulation for alfalfa and strawberries; ginseng and morel hyhae?
What we do have, however, is bird viewing, in spite of little ice to crowd eagles to open water.
Eagle watching days, Jan. 18-19, in Sauk Prairie, are still worth standing in sometimes brisk wind. These bald eagles are feeding and farther away the birds are nest-repairing, establishing contacts with mates and giving us a chance to compare adult and juvenile birds.
Mixing in a few golden eagles can’t hurt, either.
Check the maps of bald eagle nest numbers in Wisconsin counties.
There is only one zero, which is Milwaukee County. Vilas (172), Oneida (154) and Crawford (101) lead with double digits, but La Crosse (34), Sauk (21), Columbia (13), Dane (14) Iowa (21) and even Green (6) and Lafayette (5) have birds and their nests to view from now until late June. Many of these nests are roadside and do not require any disturbance to see eaglets and adults.
Check DNR web sites for notes and locations of snowy owls. Here, too, the individual birds and sometimes parliaments of birds are down from last year’s interruption. (Using parliament as a bird group name supposedly came from the birds being considered to be of a wise disposition. Maybe we should coin a term.)
Sturgeon spearing is another endeavor that attracts watchers and participants to the Winnebago System area beginning Feb. 9.
It is interesting to note sturgeon tagging and registration requirements, compared to what is now done during deer and turkey seasons.
Spring turkey season is getting attention, too, with gobbling, spring fighting, hunting authorizations, counter sales, youth season and new and improved tactics and gear. Strutting is a ways off, but not that far.
Check out Quaker Boy’s new slider, an easy yelper that is easier still.
Of six seven-day season periods, the first opens Wed., April 17, with the last period (F) closing May 28, along with the presumed morel season tailing off. Youth hunting weekend is April 13-14. Counter sales of authorizations begins March 18 and continues through the season.
After a spectacular trout opener Jan. 5, things have come back to earth but there are still grand opportunities with limited icing and relatively easy access and walking.
Watch for overwintering robins and bluebirds at springs, water bathes and special feeders.
The 10th annual Hyde area squirrel hunting tournament in Iowa County drew 32 two-person teams. A number of teams limited and brought in 10 rodents with the winners having 17.11 pounds and cashed in receiving half the entry fee of $20 per team.
A number of youngsters grabbed hold of the opportunity, some as young as Griffin Pohlman, 5, who followed dad Carl and was enthralled with the end process of preparing meat for dumpling stew. The Hyde Store parking lot looked like an old-time deer registration station, but that’s another story, or is it when we see numbers of deer hunters waning?
— Jerry Davis is an Argyle native and a freelance writer who lives in Barneveld. He can be reached at sivadjam@mhtc.net or at 608-924-1112.
